This invention refers to a shower cabinet comprising a sink forming the base for the shower cabinet, spaced apart uprights at corners at the sink for supporting lateral walls defining an access door, and an overhead sprinkler connected to hot and cold water supply by a water mixing valve.
In a traditional shower cabinet the sink, or shower base, is usually positioned against contiguous brick walls of the room in which the shower cabinet is installed, after which on the remaining sides of the shower base is erected a framework with panels defining side walls of the cabinet, at least one of which constitutes the access door.
In traditional shower cabinets all the internal accessories such as the water sprinkler, the mixing valve for hot and cold water and respective water supply pipes, must be suitably located in the brick walls before the shower cabinet is installed. As a result any later work, for example the replacement of the sprinkler or of the mixing unit, or any repairs to the water-supply pipes, necessitates breaking the brick walls or the ceramic tile surfacing, with the risk of damaging the shower base beneath or the glass walls of the cabinet.
The mixed water sprinkler, like other accessories inside the cabinet, once installed can no longer be removed or replaced without causing damages.
From German Patent Application 3 137 406 a shower cabinet is known comprising a frame, and side walls in which a water sprinkler is provided on a upright at one corner of the cabinet, facing the access door; therefore the sprinkler deliver the mixed water in a direction towards the door causing leaking out. Furthermore the upright is positioned in a corner of the shower base which is far from the door and near a brick wall of the building, preventing to centralize water control means and to operate the same from the outside of the cabinet.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a shower cabinet having a new and different structure compared with shower cabinets currently in use, by means of which it is possible to centralize the water-supply pipes, the various control means and other cabinet accessories, inside the shower cabinet.
Another object of this invention is to provide a shower cabinet, in which the mixed water sprinkler is adjustably mounted on the cabinet frame and is positioned so that the water jet is facing away from the access door of the cabinet.
A further object of this invention is to provide a shower cabinet in which the water mixing valve can be made accessible to open and to close both from the inside and from the outside of the cabinet.
In particular, according to this invention, the frame of the shower cabinet is provided at a corner with a hollow upright column in which are housed all the control devices for supply of the hot water, the cold water, and the mixed water, or other accessories, such as soap shelves, drawers, receptacle cavities possibly closed off by panels or similar means.
The central positioning of the pipes and of the water control device on the upright column also makes it possible to have on the outside of the shower cabinet, such as a display for checking of the temperature of the mixed water.
Alternatively, the pipe or pipes for the mixed water can be extended along an upper band on a side wall near the central column, so as to have one or more additional sprinklers fixedly or movably positioned along said band.
The use of a hollow central column offers therefore several advantages in that a sprinkler for the mixed water and the mixing valve may be suitably positioned allowing to control the mixed water temperature from the outside.